More charter schools unlikely in Springfield

Sunday

Plans to double the number of charter schools in Illinois probably won’t make much of a difference in Springfield, where there’s just one.

Plans to double the number of charter schools in Illinois probably won’t make much of a difference in Springfield, where there’s just one.

Illinois has a total of about 40 charter schools, though a handful, particularly in Chicago, have multi­ple campuses.

A recent change in state law would permit a total of 120 charter schools in the state, up from the current limit of 60, and a statewide free-market think tank recently held an event in Springfield to promote the idea of creating more such schools. (Char­ter schools are publicly funded, but operate independently from the school boards that approve them.) However, there seems to be little sentiment among local school ad­ministrators to add more charter schools in Springfield.

Springfield School Superinten­dent Walter Milton said he’d rather beat the growing charter movement than join it.

“I think we have a responsibility to create various options for kids in our school system, to be innovative and creative,” Milton said. “That’s what we’re doing.”

Milton said he’s happy with the district’s one charter school, Ball Charter School, 2530 E. Ash St. He said he’d even consider expand­ing it.

“I’d be more than happy to have that conversation,” he said.

Ball often scores above average

Ball Charter School opened in 1998. It came about due to a close relationship between the district and the Glen Ellyn­-based Ball Foundation, which was spending millions of dollars on reforms in the district. After former school superintendent Bob Hill retired, he joined the Ball foundation.

Ball, the Springfield district’s only pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade center, generally performs above state and district test score averages (it also has one of the lowest low-income rates among district schools). The school, which is open to all families in the district and pro­vides free transportation, enrolls about 400 students, excluding preschoolers. It has a waiting list of 314 students.

Pat Hardy, chief academic offi­cer for the Rockford schools, suggested the Springfield public school system needs more char­ter schools in a speech at a breakfast the Illinois Policy Insti­tute hosted at the Sangamo Club on Wednesday.

The institute, which generally espouses economically conser­vative policies, currently is pro­moting charter-school growth in Illinois and suggests Ball’s pop­ularity and success are good reasons for Springfield to allow more.

Hardy spoke about his rough upbringing and said he has been successful in spite of the low ex­pectations placed on him while he attended the Chicago Public Schools.

In addition to his administra­tive job, he’s helping the Rock­ford district open its third charter school.

He said Springfield also needs more alternatives.

“It’s not that bad,” Hardy said of the Springfield School Dis­trict. “But the truth comes out,” he added, when student test scores are analyzed by race and income status. For years, Springfield’s black and low-in­come students have lagged be­hind their peers.

Some charter schools are fail­ing “miserably,” Hardy ac­knowledged, but he said good charter schools can offer some­thing a public school system can’t.

No need for charter schools?

Neither Milton nor any school board members attended the in­stitute breakfast, though school district representatives where there, including members of his cabinet.

However, Milton said later the Springfield schools “are work­ing diligently” to close the wide­ly acknowledged achievement gaps.

And School Board President Art Moore said he thinks the Springfield district has already shown it’s willing to explore al­ternative education options within the regular school sys­tem. That negates any need to add more charter schools, he said.

P­ete S­herman c­an b­e r­eached a­t 788-­1­539.

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